Have you done Galveston 70.3?

I have done it 4x and will do it again next year.

I think it's a really good race.

The swim is in a protected "bayou" that's more or less part of Galveston Bay.  It's salt water and wetsuit legal.  The water has a slight chop to it (some years worse than others) and it's generally not a real fast swim despite the salt water and wetsuit.

It's a bit of a hike from the swim exit to transition so don't expect a super fast T1 time.

The bike is really flat.  It's pretty much an out and back type course.  The course is not easy despite being flat.  The wind is the great equalizer on this course.  Southerly winds are the norm that time of the year so you can expect some sort of headwind/crosswind the first half of the bike and some sort of tailwind/crosswind on the trip home.  You can bank on 15+ mph winds and there is no protection from the island winds.  The key to the bike is keeping your effort in check during the first half into the wind.  A power meter is an incredible asset on this course if you have one on your bike.  A huge percentage of people will overcook the first half of the bike and fubar their race.  The roads are generally good with the exception of the couple of miles of roads from Moody Gardens to the Seawall.  Those roads got tore up by Hurricane Ike and were not really repaired well.

The run is also flat with lots of twists and turns around Moody Gardens.  It's generally warm and humid. There's pretty much no shade on the course so plan on getting baked by the sun.  It had been a four loop run course up until last year.  It was changed to a three loop course last year.  They kept the original loop and added an additional ~1.1 mile section that included a run on the Galveston airport's runway.  The idea of one less loop seemed like a welcome change but the new section sucked.

I will echo most of what GMAN said although I did it for my first half this year and I am signed up again.

If you live in houston or the area it isn't hard to go down and ride the course before hand, although it is pretty difficult to find a swim that matches the conditions of the Bayou.

If you are really interested in doing it I would seriously consider signing up for the 5150 in Galveston in early October.  I did it last year and it is essentially the same swim as the HIM, bike half the course, and run 2 loops instead of 4.  At least 2 of the loops from 2 years ago.

And yes, the airport addition to the run REALLY sucked.  Not that the rest of the course had any real shade, but it wasn't a mass sea of heat reflecting yellow pavement with absolutely no spectator support.

But I generally liked the 8 hours I spent on the course... book your room early, Moody gardens fills up but it is really nice to not have to drive anywhere.

I don't think it has ever sold out, if it has not early.

Also, last year I emailed the WTC and asked if the 5150 was close to selling out.  It took a few days but I got a "Don't worry about it" note back.

Wouldn't hurt to ask them.

I had buddies register week of last year.

The overpass is a longer "hill" but there is that really short, really steep section to get on and off the seawall.  That was actually a bit scary to me the first time as it is probably the steepest "hill" I've hit around the Houston area.

I think it is theoretically possible to see your family members 3 or 4 times on the run standing in the same place.

Thanks,
Randy